Garden of Eden mythical or real?
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 7:35 pm
There seems to be consensus among atheists that the Garden of Eden and other locations of the Bible were simply made up accommodate the Book of Genesis and the Bible as we know it. Now granted, the Garden of Eden would most likely be a harder historical narrative to prove given the fact that there where no buildings or archeological evidence in the garden, (just a man, woman, animals and plants). However, there does seem to be evidence of other stories of an ancient garden in the Mesopotamian area.
According to David Rohl, "There is an ancient Mesopotamian word edin (Sumerian) or edinu (Akkadian) which first occurs in a short narrative concerning a war between the Mesopotamian city states of Lagash and Umma. The context suggests that this edin is an open plain situated between the two disputing cities - a sort of wasteland or zone without cultivation. On this basis scholars have understood edin to mean 'open plain' or 'uncultivated land' and thus some recognize in it the etymological origins of the biblical Eden. The term edin also occurs in an important Sumerian epic tale known as 'Emnerkar and the Lord of Aratta."
Source: //www.sightedmoon.com/?page_id=26
Genesis describes the creation of man as having occurred near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in the Mesopotamian plain. Interesting that we still have two rivers today named after these "so called" mythical garden rivers.
Not to mention, there seems to be a lot of scientific evidence for the first humans appearing in the middle east (or Africa)..
Quote Rich: "However, the Bible describes the river Gihon as being associated with Cush, which is described as being near Egypt, and is usually associated with the land of Ethiopia. The other river (Pishon) is said to be in the land of Havila, which is described as being east of Egypt, toward Assyria,1 probably being on the Arabian peninsula. A tentative map of the area is shown to the right. If modern humans originated during the last ice age2 then the Persian Gulf would have been dry (due to sea levels at least 400 feet lower than present).3 So, it is entirely possible that the location of the Eden is currently under water."
"New genetic analysis of human population groups shows that peoples of the Middle East represent the second most genetically diverse group among world-wide populations. A hypothesis is proposed that modern humans originated in the garden of Eden, in or near Mesopotamia, through the direct creation of God, and subsequently migrated world-wide, first into Africa, then Asia and Europe, and eventually the Americas and Polynesia. Subsequent back migrations diluted the genetic diversity of this founder population, making them appear to be less ancient than the Africans. The hypothesis can potentially be tested by carefully examining more Middle Eastern populations in more detail to attempt to reconstruct the original founder population."
Source: //www.godandscience.org/apologetics/human ... frica.html
There also have been a number of claims as to the actual geographic location of the Garden of Eden somewhere in the Middle East. This is a list of some of those locations.
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_eden#Suspected_locations
Is the Garden of Eden currently under the Persian gulf? Perhaps, we just don't have enough information yet.. This is just a little bit of information derived from a History Channel episode I saw the other day on this very subject.
The most plausible explanation I hold to would probably be the one by Dr. Juris Zarins who is an American archaeologist and professor at Missouri State University.
LANDSAT spots a "fossil river"
"Zarins goes back to geography and geology to pinpoint the area of Eden where he believes the collision came to a head. The evidence is beguiling: first, Genesis was written from a Hebrew point of view. It says the Garden was "eastward," i.e., east of Israel. It is quite specific about the rivers. The Tigris and the Euphrates are easy because they still flow. At the time Genesis was written, the Euphrates must have been the major one because it stands identified by name only and without an explanation about what it "compasseth." The Pison can be identified from the Biblical reference to the land of Havilah, which is easily located in the Biblical Table of Nations (Genesis 10:7, 25:18) as relating to localities and people within a Mesopotamian-Arabian framework. Supporting the Biblical evidence of Havilah are geological evidence on the ground and LANDSAT images from space. These images clearly show a "fossil river," that once flowed through northern Arabia and through the now dry beds, which modern Saudis and Kuwaitis know as the Wadi Riniah and the Wadi Batin. Furthermore. as the Bible says, this region was rich in bdellium, an aromatic gum resin that can still be found in north Arabia, and gold, which was still mined in the general area in the 1950s."
According to David Rohl, "There is an ancient Mesopotamian word edin (Sumerian) or edinu (Akkadian) which first occurs in a short narrative concerning a war between the Mesopotamian city states of Lagash and Umma. The context suggests that this edin is an open plain situated between the two disputing cities - a sort of wasteland or zone without cultivation. On this basis scholars have understood edin to mean 'open plain' or 'uncultivated land' and thus some recognize in it the etymological origins of the biblical Eden. The term edin also occurs in an important Sumerian epic tale known as 'Emnerkar and the Lord of Aratta."
Source: //www.sightedmoon.com/?page_id=26
Genesis describes the creation of man as having occurred near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in the Mesopotamian plain. Interesting that we still have two rivers today named after these "so called" mythical garden rivers.
Not to mention, there seems to be a lot of scientific evidence for the first humans appearing in the middle east (or Africa)..
Quote Rich: "However, the Bible describes the river Gihon as being associated with Cush, which is described as being near Egypt, and is usually associated with the land of Ethiopia. The other river (Pishon) is said to be in the land of Havila, which is described as being east of Egypt, toward Assyria,1 probably being on the Arabian peninsula. A tentative map of the area is shown to the right. If modern humans originated during the last ice age2 then the Persian Gulf would have been dry (due to sea levels at least 400 feet lower than present).3 So, it is entirely possible that the location of the Eden is currently under water."
"New genetic analysis of human population groups shows that peoples of the Middle East represent the second most genetically diverse group among world-wide populations. A hypothesis is proposed that modern humans originated in the garden of Eden, in or near Mesopotamia, through the direct creation of God, and subsequently migrated world-wide, first into Africa, then Asia and Europe, and eventually the Americas and Polynesia. Subsequent back migrations diluted the genetic diversity of this founder population, making them appear to be less ancient than the Africans. The hypothesis can potentially be tested by carefully examining more Middle Eastern populations in more detail to attempt to reconstruct the original founder population."
Source: //www.godandscience.org/apologetics/human ... frica.html
There also have been a number of claims as to the actual geographic location of the Garden of Eden somewhere in the Middle East. This is a list of some of those locations.
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_eden#Suspected_locations
Is the Garden of Eden currently under the Persian gulf? Perhaps, we just don't have enough information yet.. This is just a little bit of information derived from a History Channel episode I saw the other day on this very subject.
The most plausible explanation I hold to would probably be the one by Dr. Juris Zarins who is an American archaeologist and professor at Missouri State University.
LANDSAT spots a "fossil river"
"Zarins goes back to geography and geology to pinpoint the area of Eden where he believes the collision came to a head. The evidence is beguiling: first, Genesis was written from a Hebrew point of view. It says the Garden was "eastward," i.e., east of Israel. It is quite specific about the rivers. The Tigris and the Euphrates are easy because they still flow. At the time Genesis was written, the Euphrates must have been the major one because it stands identified by name only and without an explanation about what it "compasseth." The Pison can be identified from the Biblical reference to the land of Havilah, which is easily located in the Biblical Table of Nations (Genesis 10:7, 25:18) as relating to localities and people within a Mesopotamian-Arabian framework. Supporting the Biblical evidence of Havilah are geological evidence on the ground and LANDSAT images from space. These images clearly show a "fossil river," that once flowed through northern Arabia and through the now dry beds, which modern Saudis and Kuwaitis know as the Wadi Riniah and the Wadi Batin. Furthermore. as the Bible says, this region was rich in bdellium, an aromatic gum resin that can still be found in north Arabia, and gold, which was still mined in the general area in the 1950s."
Grrr....